Intel Ireland Pushes On With 14 nm

Intel Ireland has confirmed it is still set to produce the P1272 14 nm manufacturing process with no change on the near-term timetable.

Below a recent story on EE Times a commentator asked if Intel was still pushing ahead with 14 nanometer chip production at Leixlip near Dublin, Ireland.

So I thought I would check up, and the answer from Intel is: "Yes."

It was announced back in May 2012 that Intel's wafer fab complex was set to receive investment of more than $1 billion to allow it to manufacture 14 nm silicon and beyond. Ireland would benefit, along with Intel's fab D1X in Oregon and Fab 42 in Arizona. It was said then that the 14 nm process would start being used in 2013, but Paul Otellini, Intel CEO at the time, did not say which fabs would start production at what times.

In December 2012 the Irish Times reported that up to 600 Irish workers had been sent home early from production training in the US after a decision to delay the introduction of the P1272 14 nm production process at Fab 24 in Leixlip. At that time Eamonn Sinnott, vice president and general manager of Intel Ireland, said there was no delay and no change to the process introduction schedule in Ireland. (See Ireland still set for FinFETs, says Intel exec.)

Although Intel recently cut back its forecast for capital expenditure in 2013 by $1 billion to $11 billion, plus or minus $500 million, according to industry body SEMI, investments by Intel (including those at its fab complex in Ireland) are among the drivers for spending on wafer-processing equipment in 2014. It usually takes about a year from expenditure on equipment to wafer production.

In email correspondence with EE Times a spokesperson for Intel Ireland said: "There are no changes to our near-term factory roadmap for the 1272 process technology and so, yes, Ireland is still part of that roadmap as communicated by Paul Otellini in 2012."

But there is still no word on what that actual timetable might be.

My reading between the lines is that the US sites will start production of 14 nm ICs this year while Leixlip should be expected to follow in 2014.

"...the only US companies who pay the 35% rate are the smaller ones who don't have international holdings."

True enough, and most of them likely don't pay anywhere close to the full 35% given all the loopholes and tax breaks that are currently built into the absurdly byzantine U.S. tax system. But one of the reasons the multinational corporations are able to pay effectively less in taxes - apart from the aforementioned loopholes - is because of being able to shift profits offshore etc. Thus the arguments for simplifying the U.S. tax system and lowering the tax rate to bring back profits to the U.S.

@Rich: ...given all the loopholes and tax breaks that are currently built into the absurdly byzantine U.S. tax system...

I agree -- it makes one want to cry -- there are so many special interests out there -- I honestly feel that it woudl be so much better all round to have a handful of rules to cover all cases, and for evertone to be treated the same. Get rid of all the lobbyists and get rid of all the shady under-the-table dealings...